'Lewis Hamilton is a party animal and I've seen all sides of him'

19:00, 26 Dec

Updated: 19:11, 26 Dec

byNorberto Mujica

According to a former F1 mechanic he was able to see 'all sides' of Lewis Hamilton during an all-out post-F1 title celebration.

"Hamilton took over the decks at a nightclub we were at and was DJing most of the night. Scherzinger got onto the mic and started singing, with Hamilton joining in, I've seen all sides of him!”

- Marc Priestley.

Lewis Hamilton won hismaiden F1title in 2008 whilst racing for McLaren. Photo: Race Pictures

The Briton took F1 by storm, beating Fernando Alonso and nearly clinching the title in his F1 debut season at McLaren. His consumation as a Formula One world champion would have to wait until the following year, when he beat Ferrari's Felipe Massa at the season finale in Brazil with a dramatic last-corner overtake.

Speaking to a betting site, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley recounted Hamilton's all-out post-maiden F1 title celebrations.

“Fernando Alonso did not turn up to our Christmas parties, as you can imagine with how it ended with McLaren,” Priestley said.

“Lewis Hamilton can be great at the parties. I remember when he won his first world championship in 2008, he brought his girlfriend at the time, Nicole Scherzinger. Hamilton took over the decks at a nightclub we were at and was DJing most of the night. Scherzinger got onto the mic and started singing, with Hamilton joining in, I've seen all sides of him!”

Raikkonen's 'extreme' partying was 'the way to be'

Priestley then boasted being a regular attendee at Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen's parties. The former McLaren stalwart thought the Finn's 'party like a young millionaire' approach was spot on for the times.

“I can imagine Max Verstappen would have some good fun but I don't think it would have been anything like the Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen parties, which I went to a few of," Priestley continued.

"Raikkonen was a great guy, he took his racing and partying to extreme levels. He would drive his car amazingly with record lap times but he would party like crazy. Raikkonen was like a 22-year-old kid but also a millionaire. It was the way to be and it was a good time."

Smart phone era prevents current F1 drivers from partying hard

According to the ex-F1 mechanic,. drivers today refrain from going all-out at parties due to the dangers of risking online immortality due to something they say or do whilst partying.

"Lots of these drivers coming through now are still very young, like Lando Norris and Verstappen but they need to have a bit of fun," Priestley argued. But, awareness of being recorded will always be in the back of their minds, and the old drivers never really had to worry about it.

“If a photographer took a picture of something a driver wasn't supposed to do, they'd ask if the photographer could give them the picture or film and it would never go any further. Now, if someone takes a picture on their phone, it's online forever,” the ex-F1 mechanic concluded.

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